ACTUAL CLAIM
An Indian social media account on X formerly known as Twitter, named as Frontal Force circulated a video claiming that a man named Mohd Zubair sat by a riverbank with the Holy Quran, asserting that he could stop the flood with its power. According to the post, both man and the Quran were swept away by the flood waters giving this post the title of “Gems of Pakistan”.
False claims about a Pakistani man being swept away with the Quran exposed a pattern of deliberate attempts to demonize Islam. The viral post misinterprets a local folk ritual in Pakistan as an Islamic practice to malign both Islam and Pakistan.
FACT CHECK
The claim being pushed by the Indian propaganda account is false. The man’s real name is Taj Rasool, a resident of Muzaffargarh, not “Mohd Zubair” as alleged. He is known for performing such traditional folk rituals. His act had nothing to do with Islam or Quranic teachings but was based on certain local folk beliefs, which should not be misrepresented as religious practice.
After verifying the claim, contrary to the fabricated reports, he did not drown; he was taken away from the site by the authorities alive and well. The Quran and Sunnah do not teach that floods or natural disasters can be stopped through rituals of this kind instead it guides its believers towards faith, reason and patience during times of hardships This is yet another example of how Indian propaganda deliberately twists local incidents to malign Pakistan and Islam. It reflects a pattern of propaganda where any unusual local practice is falsely linked to Islam to promote hatred and suspicion against the religion.
By deliberately framing a harmless folk ritual to ‘Islamic Practice”, the sole purpose is to fuel Islamophobia by linking local cultural acts with religious teachings. To portray Islam as irrational and superstitious and to vilify Pakistan internationally during times of crisis. This case showcases how Islamophobia is being manufactured through false baseless based propagandas. Every news is repeatedly tied to Islam to delegitimize a faith followed by billions of people whereas neither Quran nor any Islamic teaching, urge its followers to do such acts. We should remain highly vigilant against such cases and to resist the normalization of anti-Islamic narratives.
